How to Find Consistent Gym Motivation (And Save Money, Too)

The secret is simple: work out at a home gym or in your neighborhood. But do it either at the same time every morning or (like I do) immediately after you finish working. More specifically, here are the steps:

Commit to a steady, weekly workout schedule (I suggest 3-4 times per week, but at least 2).

Prioritize working out over everything else, except for emergency situations. I can’t emphasize this enough!

Go to work.

An hour before you will get home, have a pre-workout meal (for example, a good protein bar with low sugar and high complex carbs) and some caffeine.

When you get home, immediately change into your workout clothes.

Do your workout.

Number two is critical for that gym motivation.

Let your family and friends know that working out is your highest priority on those days. Unless it’s a real emergency, reject invitations or commitments that would keep you from working out. Treat fitness like what it is – potentially a matter of life and death. Adopt the postal creed: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

The first weeks, it will be tough, and you’ll need your discipline to get you through. However, your body will soon start adapting to the workouts, and you’ll start to look and feel much sexier all throughout the day. Trust me, this will make it far easier to keep to your workout schedule! Once you get that momentum, it gets easier!

Consistency is Key

I can’t emphasize this enough. Without consistency and discipline, you won’t create a habit. Without a habit, you’ll wind up dropping your workouts.

So, make your workouts a big priority, and make sure to keep to a consistent and realistic schedule. If it’s 4 times a week, great. If it’s just 3, also great – as long as you keep to it!

For A Quick Burst of Gym Motivation, Look at Pictures of Fit People

Yeah, maybe a little weird. But it works! If you need a quick shot of motivation, look at pictures of fit, attractive people on Instagram on elsewhere. It’ll make you want to look like them, and push you to exercise!

I’m not telling you to do this every day, but if you need a quick burst of motivation, go ahead.

Why Not Go to A Commercial Gym?

Because, in my experience, it’s much harder to keep that gym motivation. Of course, if you already manage to work out consistently at a gym, by all means keep doing so – the consistency of fitness classes or the community aspect of gyms work great for some people. However, I find that they have some serious disadvantages:

They cost money.

During crowded times, you might have to wait for equipment.

It takes time to drive there and back.

For me (though not for everyone), the social aspect is a drawback – if you’re talking, you’re usually not exercising.

In contrast, it’s cheap, quick, and easy to work out at home. Just change and start, in less than 15 minutes. Do your routine, and be done in less than an hour and a half.

What Kind of Workout Equipment Do I Need?

I don’t claim to be an expert on exercise, but I’ve had multiple home gyms over the years. Unless you’re a serious bodybuilder, you can get away with surprisingly little equipment.

For aerobics, all you need is a machine like a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike. I recommend that you do aerobics outside on most days (biking, skating, walking, jogging, etc.), but still have a machine at home for bad-weather days or in case you just want to stay in.

You can do your aerobics outside, like this ripped dude who’s maintained his gym motivation

For strength training, you can get by with a yoga mat (for abs) and resistance bands (for everything else). You can also add some dumbbells and other basic equipment if you want, but I managed for a couple of years with just the mat and the bands, plus one of those door frame pull-up bars.

Another (more expensive) option is to get an all-in-one machine, like a Bowflex home gym. I had one for about 3 years, and can say it worked great (my only complaint was that the resistance was a bit weak, even with all the resistance add-ons).

As someone who’s been training for 15 years and has kept his gym motivation, I can confidently say that, unless you plan to go into competitive bodybuilding or want a large variety of exercises, you probably won’t need anything beyond a good machine. For casual weight training, the mat and bands should be enough workout equipment.

How Does This Save Me Money?

In two big ways.

First, you’ll save on a gym membership. Basic home gym equipment in the form of a yoga mat and resistance bands can easily run you less than $100. Add in a good aerobics machine, and your total is still less than $1,000. For more advanced training, you can spend anywhere from a few thousand to over $10,000 for a commercial-quality home gym. So, compared to a gym membership, the equipment will “pay for itself”, whether it’s in a matter of months or over several years.

Second, and more importantly, your improved health probably means you’ll save thousands in medical costs over the years. Not only will you save in direct medical costs, but also in reduced lost productivity due to disease. Overall, and as is common knowledge, your better health will mean you’ll lead a happier, more productive life with less sickness and pain.

Why Should I Believe You? Are You An Example of Gym Motivation?

Yes, I’ve done it myself. I’ve done casual bodybuilding 3-4 times per week steadily for more than 15 years (except for some injury and travel-related pauses). I’m not good at sports (in school, I was usually among the last to be picked for teams). Honestly, I started going to the gym just to look good, and grew to love the sport and how it makes you look and feel. It’s also awesome because you compete against yourself, and don’t have to depend on someone else showing up unless you have a workout buddy (I don’t).

So I’m not an Olympic athlete or professional bodybuilder – I’m just some dude with a full-time job (and who moonlights as a blogger) who’s managed to keep to a consistent workout schedule for over 15 years.

Summing It Up

So there it is: in 15-plus years of keeping to a workout schedule both in and out of gyms, I can say that the best way to ensure consistency is to work out at home. You don’t need to spend thousands on workout equipment or a gym membership, but you do need to start exercising as soon as you’re done with work. In my experience, any delays beyond going to the bathroom can destroy your motivation, since the action of working out stops being automatic.

In other words, give working out the highest priority, and act automatically – get home, change, and start, immediately. You’ll see that as you become fitter and sexier and the routine settles in, it’ll get a lot easier.

Here’s to your health!

Do you work out at home? What methods have you used to find consistent gym motivation?

Comments

Hi Miguel, I subscribe to your approach having a treadmill, mats and a few free weights in our basement. 2017 and now 2018 have been a couple of my worst years for consistent exercise. I need to get back to exactly what you write about here. Tom

I too have had periods where I’ve exercised less; as they say, “life happens”. I find that, when that happens, the best way to get back on track is to commit to doing a steady routine for at least 3 weeks. By the end of that time, your body will probably start getting used to the workouts, and “ask” you to continue. It’s always the first few weeks which are the hardest.

The long-term medical cost is key, and this cost will only go up not down I suspect. Basically taking care of our bodies is really like a long-term investment and the dividends is our ability to continually feel good inside and out. 🙂

In my younger years, I had a gym membership, and used it every day! But, due to stress fractures/IT band issues (running induced), and getting prego – let it go.

Since then – rehabbing in the basement with free weights and a treadmill has been the best benefit. I gave up running, and pretty much stick to lunging with arm curls to get a good strength training/cardio workout in!

So many health benefits of working out – if I lapse and miss a while, I’m a crankier, less happy person! (I would say the same for Mr. DS, ha!) He religiously pumps iron every day in our basement…I think investing in enough weights & equipment and using in it, is more cost effective than gym memberships as well in the long run!

Thanks! I also started out at a gym, and did gym workouts during my high school and college years. However, when I started to work full-time, I switched to home workouts because it was much easier to keep up, and more time efficient.

Sorry to hear about your injuries – I’ve been there (this year I had shoulder surgery for weight-training related injuries). But glad to hear both you and Mr. DS are working out again. It’s definitely something that’s not only awesome for your long-term health, but also makes you feel and look a lot better!

“But do it either at the same time every morning or (like I do) immediately after you finish working.” So that’s how I usually do it. There are times I switch these two up.

I generally work out at least 5 times a week, but it’s reduced a bit since I started my blog… (I admit that feels like crap). I’m still trying to figure out how to balance my day job, blog, workout and friends/family!

I work out at home too although my finance likes going to the gym. I love my own personal space. It’s quiet. I can crank the music. I’m by myself.

I bought a bunch of my workout stuff through my company’s benefit. Each year, I’d get an allocation, so I try my best to use it wisely. Over the years, I’ve bought my treadmill, rollerblades, yoga mat, weights, Nike workout clothes, and my Bose sports earphones for music, (hahaha I still try to go for style at home, LOL). I thought… may as well take advantage of the benefits!

Not only does this save me money, I also like my own personal space at home. I’ve tried working a few times at the gym, and I lose motivation and get really conscious…

Thanks! Wow, 5 workouts per week is incredible. I can handle 3 weight sessions and maybe 4 aerobics, but injuries have taught me not to go much further. I’m just built like that – I wish I could work out more.

Some people do great at gyms, though my feeling is that they’re a minority, especially if they do self-guided workouts rather than fitness classes.

That’s an awesome company benefit!

Overall, I think that, unless you’re one of the few that consistently gets to a gym, home workouts are a great option. At least for me, I could do regular gym workouts while I was a student but, as a full-time worker, I’m only consistent when I work out at home.

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Meet the Rich Miser

Hey there! I'm Miguel, a lawyer and entrepreneur from Miami. When I'm not practicing law, I look for ways to live it up for the least amount of money possible. I also love nights out on the town, skiing, and being a news junkie. READ MORE